The purpose of
this site is for information and a record of Gerry McCann's Blog
Archives. As most people will appreciate GM deleted all past blogs
from the official website. Hopefully this Archive will be helpful to
anyone who is interested in Justice for Madeleine Beth McCann. Many
Thanks, Pamalam

Note: This site does not belong to the McCanns. It belongs to Pamalam. If
you wish to contact the McCanns directly, please use
the contact/email details
campaign@findmadeleine.com

Today we learned that our arguido status and that of the other
arguido, Robert Murat, has been lifted. The case will be filed
unless other important new evidence is uncovered. Kate delivered
the statement below to the media earlier this evening. Our
search for Madeleine, which has never ceased, continues.
'We welcome the announcement from the Portuguese Attorney
General today, although it is no cause for celebration. It is
hard to describe how utterly despairing it was to be named
'arguidos' and subsequently portrayed in the media as suspects
in our own daughter's abduction- and worse. It has been equally
devastating to witness the detrimental effect this status has
had on the search for Madeleine.

We look forward to scrutinising the police files to see what has
ACTUALLY been done and, more importantly, what can still be
done, as we leave no stone unturned in the search for Madeleine.
We would

once again urge anyone with relevant information to come forward
and call our helpline on +44 845 838 4699 or send information to
investigation@findmadeleine.com
Finally we would like to thank everyone who has supported us and
stayed with us during this particularly difficult period. We
assure you we will NEVER give up on Madeleine.

DAY 445

NEW SITE SCREENSHOT

Date Released: 21/07/2008
23:03:00Lifting of Arguido status
'We welcome the
announcement from the Portuguese Attorney General today,
although it is no cause for celebration. It is hard to describe
how utterly despairing it was to be named 'arguidos' and
subsequently portrayed in the media as suspects in our own
daughter's abduction- and worse. It has been equally devastating
to witness the detrimental effect this status has had on the
search for Madeleine.

We look forward to scrutinising the police files to see what has
ACTUALLY been done and, more importantly, what can still be
done, as we leave no stone unturned in the search for Madeleine.
We would once again urge anyone with relevant information to

We have
recently managed to have a break visiting family. Sean and
Amelie have had a brilliant time and it has been great for me to
spend so much time with them. Although this has been a relaxing
break, it has been incredibly difficult for Kate and me to have
been on holiday without Madeleine- it is all too apparent what
is missing.
We were very pleased to learn today that the written declaration
calling for the introduction of an EU wide Amber alert system
has been successful. More than half of the 786 Members of the
European Parliament (MEP's) were required to sign the
declaration for it to be adopted as a full resolution of the
European Parliament and as of today 417 had signed. This is a
small step in the right direction and a lot of work will be
needed to get National Amber alert systems implemented. The idea
already has the support of the European Commission and this
additional political impetus should speed up the implementation
process.

We would like to thank Edward McMillan-Scott and the other 4
sponsors of the declaration, all those MEP's who signed the
declaration and all the members of the public who lobbied their
MEP's.

There has been a lot of speculation in the press over the last
10 days that the

investigation
in to Madeleine's disappearance has closed.

We have not
heard anything officially other than we know the files are with
the prosecutor and the period of secrecy has been extended to
14th August. Our independent investigation continues and we urge
people going on holiday to remain vigilant and consider taking
one of our posters with them- downloadable from the how to help
section of the website.

We were very pleased to learn today that the written declaration
calling for the introduction of an EU wide Amber alert system
has been successful. More than half of the 786 Members of the
European Parliament (MEP's) were required to sign the
declaration for it to be adopted as a full resolution of the
European Parliament and as of today 417 had signed. This is a
small step in the right direction and a lot of work will be
needed to get National Amber alert systems implemented. The idea
already has the support of the European Commission

and this additional political impetus should speed up the
implementation process.

We would like to thank Edward McMillan-Scott and the other 4
sponsors of the declaration, all those MEP's who signed the
declaration and all the members of the public who lobbied their
MEP's. Attachments No files

Kate and I had a flying visit to Strasbourg yesterday to the
European Parliament.

The visit was organised by one of the written declaration
sponsors, Edward McMillan-Scott who is a Vice-President of the
parliament.

It was hectic schedule but well worth effort. We met with
the other sponsors, many MEP's who have signed the declaration
and many who did not realise that there was a declaration on the
introduction of an EU wide Amber alert. As we stated when we
launched the declaration in Brussels last month- the alert is
not our idea. It already has the support of the European
commission and they and other groups such as Missing Children
Europe, PACT and Missing People have done a huge amount of work
previously. Our hope is that getting the declaration formally
adopted by the parliament will speed up the implementation of
alerts throughout the EU member staets and facilitate
cross-border cooperation. Many of the MEP's who have not signed
said they will and a lot of those who have already signed said
they will lobby their National and fellow group MEP's to sign.

Today we heard that 283 have now signed the declaration compared to 211 on
Monday. We are hopeful that the additional 110 signatures
required will be achieved by the next sitting of parliament on
the 7-10th July. It would be a great shame if the declaration
failed because of a combination of ignorance and apathy.

Gerry and Kate would like
to thank all those who have taken the trouble to call or email
with support and information. We have been taken aback by the
level of your response. Thank you, it means so much to us. If
you haven't had a response yet, please don't worry ? someone
from the team will be in touch shortly.

If you gave a statement to
anyone during the course of the investigation into Madeleine's
abduction, we'd be really grateful if you could contact us so
that we can follow up every last piece of information.

Our daughter Madeleine was
abducted on 3rd May 2007 in Praia da Luz, Portugal, 9 days
before her 4th birthday. She was taken from our holiday
apartment where she was sleeping with her younger brother and
sister whilst we were dining 50 yards away. Despite a massive
investigation led by the Portuguese police and supported by the
British police, we still do not know who has taken her, why she
was taken or where she is. In addition, private investigators
based in Spain are now following up any leads regarding
Madeleine's disappearance. (Investigation
page)

Since Madeleine's abduction,
we have learned a lot about missing children and child
exploitation. The scale of the problem is massive and worldwide.
Although finding Madeleine will always remain our priority, we
feel it is our duty to highlight these problems as well as areas
where legislation can be improved, in order to make the world a
little safer for all children. To achieve these aims we are
working closely with the International Center for Missing and
Exploited Children, the Centre for Child Exploitation and Online
Protection and other non-governmental agencies throughout Europe
(Investigation
page). The Find Madeleine Campaign
launched a new YouTube channel for missing children in August
2007 called 'Don't
You Forget About Me'
in conjunction with ICMEC and Google.

The support we have had from
around the world has been amazing. We have no doubt that without
all the good wishes, prayers and efforts of so many people, our
ordeal would have been so much harder. It has helped maintain
our strength and hope, and this together with support for the
campaign, has helped the search for our precious Madeleine. We
would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their
unconditional support and solidarity.

Madeleine is a beautiful
little person. She was a very happy and much loved little girl.
We believe there is a very good chance that Madeleine is still
alive. She deserves the love and security of her family. She
needs to be back home with her mummy and

First of all apologies for the long gap since my last blog. We
are still very busy and the last 2 weeks all four of us have
been laid low with a viral illness.

Our investigative
team have been very busy working through all the information
which has been coming in through the new hotline number and the
e-mail addresses ' see investigation page. A lot of this
information is undoubtedly relevant to the investigation and
every piece of information will be followed up- a very time
consuming process ' so please be patient with us! We are
planning a facility to allow the upload of pictures of people
who were in the Algarve leading up to Madeleine's abduction. In
the interim pictures can be e-mailed to
investigation@findmadeleine.com

The campaign for a Europe wide Amber alert continues. There is
approximately one month left to get the majority of MEP's to
sign the written declaration. Edward McMillan- Scott has told us
that so far there are 211 signatures therefore we need another
182. Thank you to everyone who has written to MEP's. Some of the
responses that have been sent display a complete lack of
understanding in what we hope to achieve. For example some have
said they will not sign because such a system is already in
place with the 116 000 hotline number. Firstly this number for
missing children is only operational in one out of 27 European
countries (Greece) so far. Secondly the number does not mean an
Amber alert will be issued for an abducted child as no such
system exists- hence the written declaration. Thirdly we are
looking for cross border cooperation between member states when
a child is abducted. Hopefully with more lobbying, we can get
the declaration accepted.

We are continually looking to
improve the website. Over the next few weeks you should notice
some changes. We are planning to have new messages on the home
page from Kate and myself. The blog may
change to a findmadeleine update,
there will be new pages displaying the posters in full and
further details of local fundraising events. With the holiday
season approaching, we would be really grateful if people would
once again download Madeleine posters from the website
(available in many different languages in how to help/downloads
section) and take them with them for distribution and display.

1 in 6 children are recovered after someone has recognised
them from a poster!

Finally, we would like to say thank you to everyone for their
continued help and kindness, the many letters, messages of
support and prayers. It is reassuring and uplifting that
Madeleine is in so many people's thoughts and prayers even at
this stage.

It
has been another busy week. We have been inundated with mail
that we are working through. Kate and I would like to thank
everyone who has helped and supported us over the last twelve
months. It is the support we have received from family, friends,
and the overwhelming response of the general public that has
sustained us. Special thanks to everyone who has contributed to
Madeleine's Fund, which has allowed us to continue the
independent investigation to find Madeleine.

Following our renewed appeal there has been a tremendous
response to both the call line (+44 (0)845 838 4699) and the
e-mail addresses (anonymous@findmadeleine.com and
investigation@findmadeleine.com). Hundreds of calls and e-mails
have been received and each and every bit of information will be
assessed and followed up. We would encourage anyone who might
have information to contact us in confidence. We would like to
hear from everyone who was staying at
the Ocean Club at the time of Madeleine's abduction or from anyone who
may
have experienced a similar incident in the Iberia peninsula.

Tomorrow is Madeleine's fifth birthday. It will be one of the
hardest days of the last 375. We will be marking it privately
and quietly. We will do everything to try and ensure Madeleine
does not spend another birthday separated from her family.

*This candle is for you Madeleine that you
may find peace on this day 03/05/2008.
One year today since you went missing. Madeleine you are in all
our hearts*

DAY 366

NEW SITE SCREENSHOT

It is a year to the day since
Madeleine was abducted. A heinous

crime that had the potential to
destroy the strongest of families. Without doubt it has been the
longest year of our lives, yet it does not seem like a year
since we last saw Madeleine. She is still a large part of Sean
and Amelie's life and this gives some comfort to Kate and me.

The research we have done this year has encouraged us to believe
that there is a very good chance Madeleine is alive. Ernie
Allen, president of NCMEC for the last 25 years, has reiterated
that and the fact there are a number of scenarios in which
Madeleine could be alive and well. We just need to find her.

The documentary we made on an EU wide Amber alert and the last year was screened in the UK on
Wednesday night, in Spain on Thursday and last night in
Portugal. We have spent most of the last 3 days promoting our
new hotline number +4 845 838 4699 (calls are charged at local
rate) and our e-mail addresses for information: anonymous@findmadeleine.com
and
investigation@findmadeleine.com .
We have always said we will leave no stone unturned in the
search for Madeleine. To do that we need to know what has and
has not been done- unfortunately we know very little about the
investigation to date. This is why we are appealing to everyone
who may have come forward previously to do so again. Every piece
of information is important to us. We are also appealing to
people who may not have come forward for whatever reason to do
so. We are only interested in finding Madeleine and will
guarantee confidentiality and anonymity if requested. We are
also families asking with children to think if something similar
may have happened to them. It is unlikely

this is the first time that the abductor has struck.

Today we will be attending one of the many services to pray for
Madeleine and other missing children. We would like to thank
everyone, of all faiths, who has prayed for

Madeleine over
the last year. The Helping to find Madeleine group have also
organised a

'lighting the way
home for Madeleine' event where, they will release lanterns in
Rothley around the time she went missing. Others will light a
candle and

Our visit to the
European Parliament on Thursday (10th) was the culmination of
several months work. Kate and I presented a written declaration
(see news and support) to the parliament asking for the
introduction of an EU wide missing child alert system based on
the US AMBER alert system. The AMBER system has been incredibly
successful in rescuing abducted children. France has adopted a
similar system in the last 2 years, which has been activated 5
times with all children being recovered alive.

An EU wide AMBER type system has widespread support. The EU
commission presented draft guidance (written in conjunction with
Missing Children Europe) on the introduction of such a system.
In Lisbon in October last year the proposal got the informal
support of the 27 member states home office/justice ministers.

We presented the declaration to MEP's, answered questions and
then held a press conference- our first public speech since
returning from Portugal. For the declaration to be taken up we
need 51% of (the 785) MEP's to sign the declaration in the next
3 months. We would urge everyone to lobby their MEP's to sign
the declaration.

The day went extremely well although we were naturally asked
questions about the Portuguese investigation, which are very
difficult to answer for us, as we have had no direct dialogue
with the Portuguese police. We were dismayed to learn that
excerpts from our early witness statements were leaked to a
Spanish TV station. These were taken out of context and there
can be no doubts were designed to undermine our credibility. One
has to question why these were leaked on the day when the media
attention was huge and

who benefits from such a leak?

One thing

for certain is that it does
not help to find Madeleine. We would certainly welcome an
independent inquiry as to where the leaking of such sensitive
information, contrary to judicial secrecy laws, has come from

Kate and I arrived
back from Washington yesterday. We went primarily to visit the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and
to learn more about the implementation of their national AMBER
alert system (child rescue alert). The whole experience was very
positive. The staff at NCMEC is the most experienced in dealing
with missing and abducted children anywhere in the world.

The AMBER alert system should be used in the most serious child
abduction cases (usually by strangers, when the child is
considered at risk of serious harm) to recover the child as
quickly as possible. The alert is based on the realisation that
galvanising the local community can play a huge role in finding
missing children. Last year alone 68 children, and almost 400 in
total since its? implementation, were recovered safely as a
direct result of the AMBER alert. In 16 cases the abductor
released the child safely when hearing the AMBER alert. We
strongly feel that Europe should have a similar integrated child
rescue alert.

Our visit to Washington and meetings with other relevant
European organisations will be shown on a documentary to be
screened by ITV on the 30 April. The programme will focus on the
campaign to introduce a European version of the AMBER alert.
There will of course be massive media interest in Madeleine's
disappearance at this time, if she remains missing, and we hope
that the programme is shown in most European countries and
further afield.

During our Washington visit we were also very encouraged to hear
that,

in NCMEC's

experience, the younger the
child at the time of abduction the less likely that child will
be seriously harmed. Such information makes us believe even more
fervently, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that
Madeleine can be found safe and well

I think everyone must have heard
the news today that Express Newspapers have published front page
apologies to Kate and me and agreed damages of ?550,000
which will be paid in to Madeleines Fund. It gives us no joy
that we had to take such action- we would rather have not had to
put up with such distasteful, grotesque and blatantly untruthful
coverage. Nevertheless we hope todays events will act as a springboard in advancing the
search for Madeleine. The money will be used to aid the
investigation.
To read our full statement, please see the News and Press
Releases in the News and Support section.

'The directors of Madeleine's Fund
welcome the settlement of Gerry
and Kate's complaint against Express Newspapers, in particular
the front page apologies for the grossly defamatory stories that
were consistently published in recent months and the agreement
reached on substantial damages.

It has been a great additional burden for Gerry and Kate to be
repeatedly vilified in sections of the press. Such coverage was
also a diversion for our campaign to find Madeleine.

We hope that such public apologies will not only bring some
comfort to Gerry and Kate, but that they will re-emphasise the
need for a renewed focus on the campaign.

The ?550,000 damages from Express Newspapers will now be used
fully within the stated spirit and aims of Madeleine's Fund.
The purpose of the Fund is to support Gerry and Kate
specifically in the

search for
Madeleine and her abductor(s).

The Fund will,
therefore, continue to work to gather information to assist them
in achieving their aim of bringing Madeleine home. We would,
once again, urge any member of the public who still feels they
may have useful information to come forward with it without
delay

We are
pleased that Express Newspapers have today admitted the utter
falsity of the numerous grotesque and grossly defamatory
allegations that their titles published about us on a sustained
basis over many months.

The exceptional publication of these apologies, together with
today's statement of full apology in open Court before Mr
Justice Eady, was the only just and proper response by Express
Newspapers following our complaint. We also wish to place on
record our thanks to Adam Tudor, from Carter Ruck. Today's
result simply could not have been achieved without him

Express Newspapers, rightly acknowledge that we are innocent of
all allegations that we may have been involved in Madeleine's
abduction and WE would like to reiterate that there is
absolutely no evidence that Madeleine is dead or has been
seriously harmed.

We embarked on this course of action reluctantly, indeed with a
heavy heart, as we did not wish the pursuit of it to become a
distraction from our sole aim ? finding Madeleine. Indeed, as
long ago as last autumn our lawyers approached Express
Newspapers and urged them to show greater restraint in their
reporting ? requests which went utterly unheeded.

The distress all this has caused members of our wider family, at
a time of great emotional turmoil for them, was also a major
factor in our action. Their pain over the loss of Madeleine has
been compounded by having to witness the irresponsible and
libellous reporting that we have successfully challenged today.

As a part of our settlement, Express Newspapers have also agreed
to donate ?550,000 to the Fund that was established to help find
Madeleine. We feel it is entirely appropriate that the search
for Madeleine will now benefit directly out of the wrongs
committed against us as her parents.

We hope that
the Portuguese authorities lift our arguido status in the very

near future so
that everyone can focus on finding our beautiful little girl,
Madeleine.?

Kate and I heard the totally
heart-warming news today that Shannon Matthews has been
recovered safely. We are delighted for her family and hope and
pray that Shannon has not suffered too much during the last 24
days.
Although the circumstances may be different, finding Shannon
alive does give Kate and me renewed optimism. I am reminded of
Ernie Allen's ( the president of NCMEC) words: 'until you know
who has

taken Madeleine and why, you
cannot give up hope'. We do not know who has taken Madeleine or
why, and there is certainly no
indication that Madeleine has been seriously harmed. Of course
we will not give up hope. Someone somewhere knows where
Madeleine is.

Day 316: 14/03/2008 - Friday

DAY 316

NEW SITE -2 SCREENSHOT

2nd Version
edited 14/03/08

Kate
and I heard the totally heart-warming news today that Shannon
Matthews has been recovered safely. We are delighted for her
family and hope and pray that Shannon has not suffered too much
during the last 24 days.

Although the circumstances may
be different, finding Shannon alive does give Kate and me
renewed optimism. I am reminded of Ernie Allen's ( the president
of NCMEC) words: 'until you know who has taken Madeleine and
why, you cannot give up hope'. We do not know who has taken
Madeleine or why, and there is certainly no

Day 316:
14/03/2008 - Friday

1st version
Date and day Gerry used Day 314: 12/03/2008

Kate and I
heard the totally heart-warming news today that Shannon Matthews
has been recovered safely. We are delighted for her family and
hope and pray
that Shannon has not suffered too much during the last 24 days.

Although the circumstances may be different, finding Shannon
alive does give Kate and me renewed optimism. I am reminded of
Ernie Allen's
( thepresidentof NCMEC) words: 'until you know who has taken Madeleine and why,
you cannot give up hope'. We do not know who has taken Madeleine
or why, and there is
certainly no indication that
Madeleine has been seriously harmed. Of course we will not give
up hope. Someone somewhere knows where Madeleine is.

Kate and I were so sad to learn
that Mari Luz's body had been found. This is the news that at
any parent of a missing child dreads and a situation we
desperately hope that we never have to face. We deeply
sympathise with her family and pray they remain strong and in
time are able to find peace.
We would like to thank everyone who continues to send us
messages of support, encouragement and of hope. All of our
family have been traumatised by Madeleine's abduction and
continued absence and the tremendous support we have received
has undoubtedly helped us enormously over the last 10 months.
Tomorrow there is a march in London starting opposite Western
Marble Arch synagogue at 10am to petition

for more support for the

families of missing people who
are left behind. The march has been organised by two mothers
whose sons are missing and will be attended by representatives
of the charity Missing People and families of those who have
relatives missing.

It has been a relatively quiet
week for us. We did hear from the UK police that the French have
officially ruled out the reported sighting of Madeleine in
Montpellier. It is disappointing that it took so long,
particularly after the widespread coverage the reported sighting
received in the media.

Today Kate and I met with representatives of two UK charities
involved in missing and abducted children. Missing People is the
largest UK non-governmental organisation involved in this area
and a member of Missing Children Europe. The introduction of a
Europe wide child alert system is strongly supported by both
organisations. Missing People have also applied to run the 116
00 number, which has been reserved throughout the EU as a
missing child hotline. Missing People were responsible for
displaying Madeleine's image on Marble arch, along with 2 other
missing children last summer. It was heartening to hear today
that one of those children was recovered as a direct result and
the other has also been successfully returned to his family.

PACT (parents and abducted children together) is a much smaller
organisation founded by Catherine Meyer. PACT is positioned
primarily as an advocates for change in how missing children
cases are handled and identified very early how poorly data on
missing and abducted children are collected. PACT would like to
see a national centre in the UK similar to NCMEC in the USA. It

was uplifting to see how
Catherine has maintained her passion, drive and commitment to
try and make effective changes even after ten years of
campaigning. Kate and I will work with the various
non-governmental organisations to influence the policy makers
who decide these important decisions.